John McCarthy looks at Eastern Europe with broadcaster Dennis Marks who visited many of the places described by the author Joseph Roth who wrote between the wars about the declining years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and often depicted Jewish life. Dennis journeyed around this 'Mitteleuropa' in search of a world which has all but disappeared since the Holocaust and the years of the Iron Curtain. Journalist Tim Luard also makes a journey into the past. He traces the escape from Hong Kong...

John McCarthy meets foreign correspondent Nicholas Wood who has turned his hand to running tours of some of the world's politically sensitive spots. They are joined by playwright Sam Holcroft and economist and playwright Alastair Muriel who recently accompanied Nicholas on a trip to North Korea to find out if they could get any closer to this controversial country. John also looks at Panama with Verol Gordon who has moved there with his family and explains the attractions of a new life in a...

John McCarthy hears about the transoceanic rowing experiences of Roz Savage who has just completed a crossing from Australia to Mauritius making her the first woman to row solo across the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. John also goes cheek to cheek with the tango as he finds out why the dance draws people to its roots in Argentina. He talks to travel writer Kapka Kassabova about its history and hold over her, Sarah Kennedy who went on a tango holiday and Sally Blake who has written a...

John McCarthy hears about Congo in the early days of independence in the 1960s from Veronica Cecil who had to flee from the civil war with her young family and about the country after it had become Zaire a decade later from Ian Mathie who lived amongst the forest dwelling people. John also meets Kathy O'Keefe who visits the remote Indian Ocean isles of Rodrigues to help with their teacher training. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy looks at natural navigation with Alison Steadman who has been learning from the adventurer Tristan Gooley how to find and follow directions using only the signs provided by the weather and the landscape. Leading guide Kevin Albin talks about snow shoeing in the Pyrenees and sun bears in Borneo and British Indian novelist Rana Dasgupta explains why he is fascinated by Bulgaria and post-colonial India. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy discusses travel biography at the Cheltenham Literature Festival with eminent writers in the field; Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sara Wheeler and Alexander Maitland. Producer: Harry Parker.

John McCarthy gets a flavour of rural Italy and its food in conversation with writer Tracey Lawson who investigated the surprising longevity of an Italian village's residents by going to live there and learning all about their diet; their great life expectancy is due in no small part to simple food freshly prepared and she shares some of the secrets with John. They are joined by author Julia Blackburn whose own experiences of living in an Italian village led her to collect the memories and...

John McCarthy asks the historian Thant Myint-U, who visits Burma regularly, about the recent political developments there and its role in south east Asia. Thant reflects on the how the country's relationship with tourism might also change. The author and traveller Anthony Sattin tells John how the history of Egypt has attracted traders and tourists and how the change of government there too has affected tourism. John also finds out from Pauline Sanderson about her part in the world's longest...

John McCarthy talks to adventurer Jock Wishart about his recent expedition rowing to the North Pole. He and his team were the first to achieve this feat made possible this year by global warming melting the ice. They were under threat from polar bears and crushing ice floes and had to return before the sea froze over again. John also meets novelist Jo Baker whose stay in Malta led to the discovery of her family's First World War connection with the island. And Peter Caton who has visited all...

John McCarthy introduces businesswoman Alice Morrison who took time off from the recession to ride from Cairo to Cape Town on the Tour d'Afrique cycle race, braving bandits and wildlife for a life changing experience. Best selling crime novelist John Connolly talks about his love of the US state of Maine despite not liking two of its great attractions, hunting and seafood. And writer Duncan Fallowell talks about his travels to Gozo, India and South Wales in search of people who have...

Sandi Toksvig takes a bus trip along the south coast of England from Brighton to Eastbourne in the company of the listener who suggested it, Veronica Groocock. Together they discover the delights to be had on an ordinary scheduled bus route. These include Kipling's garden, a 1930s lido, the Greenwich meridian, a lamb called Hardy and the lighthouse at Beachy Head. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig in the second of two programmes continues her exploration the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She looks at the its richness both in history and the fusion of eastern and western cultures in the arts and cuisine. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sandi Toksvig in the first of two programmes begins to explore the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She gets an overview of the city from the tops of two very different towers, hears about the impact of tourism and economic growth on the city and rediscovers a forgotten opera singer. Producer: Harry Parker.

Sonia Deol hears about the re-enactment of a historical voyage round Africa from marine explorer Philip Beale. He built a replica of an ancient sailing boat to recreate the Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa. He and his crews sailed clockwise round the continent and on the two year journey risked whale sharks, modern shipping and pirates. Even after the journey the problems weren't over as Philip had to rescue the boat from the recent troubles in Syria. Sonia also looks at the British...

Sonia Deol looks at Kashmir with the author Rosie Thomas, who went there to learn about the production of cashmere shawls, and journalist Tim Hannigan who toured the region investigating the murder of the Victorian explorer George Hayward. They discuss the pleasures and dangers of travelling in the beautiful but troubled land. Sonia also meets Adam Strudwick and Rekha Sharma a couple who are visiting all the world's countries in the order they became independent. It's a lifetime's project but...

Sandi is joined by Nick Mayhew Smith who has undertaken a pilgrimage to every "holy place" in England, Scotland and Wales. Nick has compiled a travel guide which not only details where sacred treasures can be found, but also tells you what to expect and ranks them in terms of holiness. Sandi also talks to two Antarctic explorers: Angie Butler loves Antarctica so much she set about recovering the ashes of a forgotten Edwardian Polar explorer and Katie Walter was only seventeen when she made it...

Sandi Toksvig is joined by country singer Hank Wangford to hear about life on the ranch with paniolo cowboys in Hawaii. There is music from cellist Li Lu who is accompanied by artist Johan Andersson, her rival in a televised international busking competition. And Sandi talks to seasoned busker Kevin Barry White about life on road with just an accordion for company. Producer: Laura Northedge.

Sandi Toksvig explores Cape Town in the company of two very different experts. Lindsay Johns has family connections to the city and visits regularly. Bryan Tully is a forensic psychologist and has recently led a 'forensic tour' to South Africa. While mortuaries, hospitals and prisons feature on the tour, Bryan talks especially about his impressions of Cape Town. Sandi also talks to journalist Miranda Sawyer who has retraced both her footsteps and the train tracks of her youthful InterRailing...

Sandi Toksvig meets journalist Colin Freeman who was kidnapped by pirates in Somalia whilst investigating them. He tells Sandi about how the total breakdown of law and order has led to piracy on the high seas and poverty on the land. David Edwards had barely arrived in Montserrat in 1995 when the volcanic eruptions took place that were to cover most of the island in ash. He went back 16 years later to see how life has changed for both visitors and residents. Language teacher Elisabeth Smith...

Sandi Toksvig looks at rites of passage with Anders Ryman who spent seven years photographing the ceremonies associated with key events in human life; birth, coming of age, marriage and death from Micronesia to Madagascar and Norway to Nepal. They are joined by author Sarah Murray who has travelled the world looking at rituals associated with death and Lucy Neville whose memoir of her time in Mexico includes her experiences of the Day of the Dead festival and the Saint of Death religious...

Sandi Toksvig looks at the simplicity and versatility of the bicycle as a travel machine with three very different cyclists. Susie Wheeldon rode 22,000 kilometres around the world, crossing deserts from Tunisia to Arizona, as she and her companions were researching solar energy. Robert Penn leads cycling weekends in the hills of the Brecon Beacons where the ups are as satisfying as the downs. And Matt Carroll recommends day trips in some of England's most beautiful countryside. Together they...

Sandi Toksvig meets novelist Richard Gwyn and translator Peter Bush to discuss Catalonia and its relationship with Spain. She hears how life is changing there, not just in the big city of Barcelona but in the more rural areas near the Pyrenees. Sandi also talks about the Cornish coast with the historian and author Philip Marsden who has lived in the Falmouth area for many years and reflects on the role of the sea in the lives of the residents and visitors from the days of sail to the...

John McCarthy talks to travel journalist Harry Bucknall about his journey round the Greek islands which vary from the crowded to the deserted and novelist Meaghan Delahunt reveals her love of Naxos an island less frequented by tourists. They discuss the appeal of the islands to the history lover and the holidaymaker. John also meets the writer Jasper Winn who paddled his way around Ireland in a kayak. The journey led him to see his home island from a new perspective with its wild coastline,...

John McCarthy talks to three writers who have reported as freelancers from conflict zones. Lucy Morgan Edwards worked in Afghanistan both during and after the Taliban regime as an aid worker, journalist and election observer. Despite the risks she grew to love the country and its people. Benjamin Hall's thirst for front line journalism took him to Misrata in Libya at the height of Gaddafi's attacks on the rebel city and Oliver Bullough wrote from Chechnya as it struggled against Russian...

John McCarthy meets poet and author Lavinia Greenlaw who tells him about the designer William Morris's journeys to Iceland in the 1870s and how what he saw informed his radical socialism. She also compares his experiences with her own trip there in the wake of the financial crash. Novelist Niall Griffiths emigrated to Australia as a child with his family but they returned to Britain after a few years. He tells John about rediscovering his childhood haunts thirty years later and how modern...